Brush



April 18, 1939. J. E. BLOSSOM BRUSH Filed Sept. 22, 1957 V5 UF JAMES E. BLOSSOM Patented Apr. 18, 1939 2,155,004

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE BRUSH James E. Blossom, Chicago, 111.; Mary M. Blos- 50111, Cook County, 111., administratrix of James E. Blossom, deceased Application September 22, 1937, Serial No. 165,010

Claims. (01. 15166) This invention relates to brushes adapted parity, as well as the bristles, receiving a charge ticularly for the formation or painting of letters of marking medium when the brush is dipped or characters as for example in the drawing or therein, the marking capacity of the brush being painting of price or display cards in stores or thus materially increased for each dip into the 5 other establishments. marking medium. 5

The procedure has been generally to use soft A further object is to provide an arrangement bristle or hair brushes of different sizes, but with so that the guide element may be readily dethese ordinary brushes it is difficult, particularly tached from the brush if it is desired to use the for unskilled persons, to obtain unwavering lines brush in the ordinary way.

or stripes of uniform width, as any variation in Other features and advantages of my im- 10 pressure on the brush will result in correspondp d b u W be referred o in the following ing varying widths of th lin r tri specification and description in connection with An important object of my invention is to the pany n B win in wh draw n provide for these ordinary brushes a nib or guide Fi r 1 is a side elevation of the brush strucelement to be attached to the brush handle with u 16' its outer end overlying the bristles and slitted Figure 2 is a front e a longitudinally to provide teeth, the outer end of u e 3 is n e a sect on on plane the guide element being substantially in the III of Figure 2; form of a fine tooth comb structure overlying Figure s a fIOnt elevation 0f the guide e e- 20 the bristles to form a backing therefor as they merit; 20 are moved over the surface to which the letter- Figure 5 s a rear V o e guide em ing or characters are to be applied, the width of and the comb end corresponding to the size of the Figure 6 is a Section on line VIVI 0f Figure 3 brush and determining the width of the line or showing a fied a a eme t stripe to be formed, capillary attraction holding The brush p p Shown is of the Ordinary 35 the bristles at their ends spread across the full im c mpri a dle usually of W width of the comb end so that the bristles will a tapering ferrule us a y of metal, and the apply the ink, paint, or marking medium t th bristles i2 secured in the end of the ferrule. In surface while the slits between the comb teeth accordance With y ven ion I provide a u de will serve as retainers for the ink or marking element designated as a Whole A. This element 3 medium for feeding to the bristles. The fiexibilis f elongated r oblong shape and comprises ity of the comb structure will permit the brush the y p l3 for pp a o to t e brush bristles to form full solid lines over rough surhOiOler ferrule, and the Bomb el'ld formed y faces, as well as smooth surfaces, and uniform the longitudinal slits l4 between the Co pa width and unwavering lines or stripes can then tively slender teeth l5, this comb end and part be readily and rapidly acquired by unskilled per- 0f e y 53 overlying the stles sons. The bottom side of the guide element where The ordinary small soft bristle brushes have it v y the bristles is preferably flat, and the small ferrules which do not provide an efficient under side of the inner end of t dy ay be 40 grip for the brush, and therefore another impor- Of a ape p p y seat a a t t e ferrule 40 tant object of the invention is to provide a sub- As Shown at the e e ay be flat on st ntial grip for said, brushes, the grip bein one side to form a seat for the fiat under side of preferably in the form of an elastic sleeve of suitthe y l3 in engagement e ew th. To hold able material, such as rubber, which sleeve will t e guide element in p p position a S eeve ll afford an adequate grip for easier manipulation m y be provided for intimately surrounding the 45 of the brush and may also serve to secure the ferrule and for clamping the guide element to guiding point or comb element to the brush harm the ferrule. Preferably the sleeve I1 is of elastic dle in proper position relative to the brush material such as rubber and of an outer diameter bristles. so as to provide a substantial grip for the brush A further object of the invention is to increase which will enable the brush structure to be more 50' the ink or marking medium holding capacity of readily manipulated. This grip sleeve could be the brush, this being accomplished by providing of plastic or molded material and provided with a recess or space in the body of the guide element a recess l3 opposite the flatted or indented part and communicating with the spaces or slits be- It of the ferrule in order to form a pocket into ,tween the comb teeth, these spaces and the cavwhich the guide element could be accurately in- 5.

sorted, as shown in Figure 6. The inner end of the guide element body is preferably tapered so as to facilitate its insertion between the grip sleeve and the ferrule.

5 The guide element could be of metal, but is preferably of softer material such as hard rubber, Celluloid, or plastic. The setting of the guide element is such that its end or guiding edge E will be in line with the ends of the bristles or just a slight distance behind the bristle ends. When the brush is dipped into ink or other marking material, the bristles and the slits M of the guide element will be charged with marking material, capillary attraction causing the bristles to spread at their ends for full width engagement with the end of the comb so that when the brush is now drawn along the surface to be marked, the edge E of the guide element will engage the surface to support the brush and take up the pressure while the bristles will apply the marking medium to the surface, the width of the line or stripe being determined by the width of the comb end of the guide element so that the lines or stripes will be of uniform width throughout if the edge E of the guide element is kept at right angles to the direction of the line or stripe. If narrower lines are desired, the brush is turned to angle the edge E relative to the direction of marking, and as the comb end is flexible laterally, waving lines gmcan be readily made, all under accurate guidance of the guide element. The brush structure may be thus easily manipulated by unskilled persons for accurate and uniform lettering or other markings.

a The comb end of the guide element, acting as a reservoir for marking medium to be fed to the bristles, materially increases the marking capacity of the brush structure for each dip into the marking medium. In order to further increase m the marking capacity per dip, the guide element 'may be provided with a cavity or recess IS in its under side with the recess located to communicate with the inner ends of the slits I4 so that when the brush is dipped in the marking medium, the

cavity will be filled and the contents gradually fed to the comb slits and to the bristles as the brush is manipulated.

'The comparatively slender teeth I5 will permit enough spring action to follow the brush over my1 rough surfaces so that the brush may apply marking material to fully cover the rough surface for unbroken lines of uniform width.

The brush structure can be easily used for ruling lines, as the guide element will form a guide 55 abutment for engagement with a ruler edge, and the ruler may be laid flat on the surface to be marked instead of being held up above the surface as would be necessary if the ordinary brush were used. The brush with the guide element 0 thereon could also be attached to a compass structure to make true and even lines, which would be almost an impossibility with the ordinary brush.

The guide element also serves to take the 55 Weight off of the bristles and prevent distortion thereof when the brush is stood in water to keep the bristles soft after a period of use of the brush. If it is desired to use the brush in the ordinary manner, the guide element may be read- 70 ily withdrawn, and as readily re-applied when its use is desired.

I have shown and described a practical and efficient embodiment of the features of my invention, but I do not desire to be limited to the exact "(Q-construction and arrangement shown and described, as changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A guide element for cooperation with a soft bristle lettering brush and comprising a body part adapted for mounting on the brush handle and an outer part for overlying the brush bristles, said outer part terminating in a straight contact edge and being slitted longitudinally inwardly 7 from said edge to leave a row of teeth, said slits serving as reservoirs for marking fluid to be fed to the bristles and said edge being adapted to engage with the surface to be marked to guide the movement of the bristle ends over said surface and to determine the width of the line marked by the bristle.

2. A guide element for cooperation with a soft bristle lettering brush and comprising a body part adapted for mounting on the brush handle and an outer part for overlying the brush bristles, said outer part terminating in a straight contact edge and being slitted longitudinally inwardly from said edge to leave a row of teeth, said slits serving as reservoirs for marking fluid to be fed to the bristles and said edge being adapted to engage with the surface to be markedto guide the movement of the bristle ends over said surface and to determine the width of the line marked by the bristles, said guide element body having a recess therein communicating with the inner ends of said slits and arranged to receive marking fluid when the brush is dipped and to feed the fluid through the slits for delivery to the brush bristles.

3. The combination with a lettering brush comprising a holder and soft bristles extending from one end thereof, of a guide element comprising a body part and an outer part slitted longitudinally toprovide a row of comb teeth, a sleeve on the end of said holder serving as a grip and as a means for engaging the guide element body to secure it to the holder with its comb end overlying and in contact with the bristles and with the teeth ends substantially parallelling the bristle ends whereby when said brush is used the teeth ends will engage the surface to be marked and will define the width of the marking by the bristles, said teeth being flexible laterally but comparatively inflexible vertically.

4. A guide attachment for a soft bristle lettering brush in the form of a comb structure adapted to be mounted by its body on the brush holder with its comb teeth overlying and in contact with the brush bristles for engagement of the teeth end with the surface to be marked and to determine the width of the line marked by the bristles, said teeth being flexible laterally but comparatively stiff vertically.

5. The combination with a lettering brush comprising a holder and soft bristles extending from one end thereof, of a guide element comprising a body part and an outer part slitted longitudinally to provide a row of comparatively fine comb teeth, an elastic sleeve on the end of said holder serving as a grip and as a means for receiving the body part of said guide element to secure said element to the holder with its comb teeth overlying and in contact with the bristles and with the tooth ends substantially paralleling the bristle ends whereby when said brush is used the teeth ends will engage the surface to be marked and will define the width of the marking by the bristles.

JAMES E. BLOSSOM. 

